Rangers & Celtic
Celtic in total disarray while arch-rivals Rangers re-establish themselves as Glasgow’s top dogs
It was Glasgow’s moment. Steven Gerrard went in one direction, Neil Lennon in the other. The two men, who are neighbours in the city’s west end, had deeply contrasting fates. With Rangers putting the finishing touches to their remarkable Scottish Premiership season, Gerrard was being lauded while Lennon was terminated.
Just 36 hours before Rangers clinched a place in the last 16 of the Europa League – for the second season running – by hammering Belgian side Antwerp 9-5 on aggregate, Lennon was being sacked by Celtic some 21 years after his arrival there as a player.
Lennon won five titles as a Celtic player, and five more in two spells as a manager, so you would have got long odds on Gerrard being the last man standing when the 2020-21 season began.
It was the former Liverpool captain whose future was under scrutiny, having not won a trophy in his first two years at Ibrox. However, the 40-year-old Gerrard has now delivered, alongside his assistant Gary McAllister, the former Scotland captain, who was an Anfield team-mate of Gerrard.
The pair created a team that merged attacking threat and defensive solidity. They built on the confidence supplied by last season’s Europa League adventure, which was ended by Bayer Leverkusen, and learned from the domestic pain of 2019-20. Last season they blew their title hopes by dropping 13 points in nine games after the winter break, having won at Celtic Park at the end of 2019.
This season however, they have been ruthlessly efficient. At the time of writing, Rangers have not lost a single Premiership game. Their only domestic defeat came in the League Cup, when they were beaten 3-2 by St. Mirren.
Gerrard’s side had scored 73 Premiership goals even before the start of March and conceded only nine. That had much to do with talismanic goalkeeper Allan McGregor, still influential at 39. Right-back James Tavernier was prolific in attack and defence, aided by centre-backs
Connor Goldson and Filip Helander. In midfield, Glen Kamara (just a £50,000 purchase from Dundee) flourished alongside the experienced Steven Davies. Alfredo Morelos provided plenty of goals but Ryan Kent was the outstanding attacker.
Rangers are No.1 in both Glasgow and Scotland for the first time since 2011 – they went out of business and had to re-form as a new club in the fourth tier just a year later. Yet that case still casts a long shadow; some of the debts that were incurred at the time have never been repaid. In 2020, HMRC confirmed that it is still owed £70m, while the modern club is still bleeding money. In the last nine years, they have made a loss in every season but one: the first, when they posted a £1.2m profit while playing in the Third Division (since renamed Scottish League Two). In the following six years they lost over £50m, before Gerrard pushed the wage bill even higher.
Lennon, meanwhile, paid the price for Celtic’s failure to win their iconic record tenth successive title. A wretched autumn saw them lose to Rangers at home and finish bottom of their Europa League group. Lennon looked to have bought himself some time by winning the re-arranged 2019-20 Scottish Cup final just before Christmas, beating Hearts on penalties, but two weeks later they were beaten at Ibrox.
Celtic dominated the first hour of that derby, but lost momentum after a red card for Nir Bitton. A Callum McGregor own goal minutes later condemned them to a 1-0 defeat,
Lennon paid the price for Celtic’s failure to win their iconic record tenth successive title
leaving them 19 points behind the leaders, albeit with three games in hand.
Afterwards, Lennon took his players to Dubai for a training camp, just as Scotland had shut its borders for COVID. It was a huge error of judgement by the club and 13 key players had to self-isolate on return. As a result, an under-strength Celtic drew their next three games.
Following the sacking, Gerrard was keen to offer his sympathies: “I really appreciate the job Neil has done for Celtic and take no satisfaction in seeing a rival manager lose his job. I know Neil well and have enjoyed our battles but once the dust settles we can share a pint together again.”
World Soccer’s pre-season preview of the Premiership suggested that the campaign would be shaped by the pandemic, but even that gave little hint about the reality.
In October, Celtic were hit by
numerous players having to self-isolate for COVID after international duty with France (Odsonne Edouard), Scotland (Ryan Christie and David Turnbull) and Israel (Bitton and Hatem El Hamed), and consequently had to field an under-strength side for the home defeat by Rangers.
Lennon alluded to these issues in his statement after Celtic’s decision. “We have experienced a difficult season, due to so many factors.
It is frustrating not to be able to hit the heights of before but I worked hard to turn it around. The club will always be a part of me and I will always be a Celtic supporter.”
The club will take their time to find a replacement, and could be prepared to wait until after Euro 2020 has finished to appoint Scotland manager Steve Clarke. Bookmakers have the former Kilmarnock manager as favourite to take over, ahead of ex-Bournemouth boss Eddie Howe and Lennon’s assistant, John Kennedy, who is currently in charge on an interim basis. Frank Lampard’s name has also been mentioned.